Resilient wheel.



I A. GLERET.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16, 1912.

Patented July 28, 1914.

3 SHEETS-$313111 1.

Witrwlses.

THE NORRISHPETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHOH-WASHINGTON, u. c:

'A. OLE RET,

I RESILIENT WHEEL. APPLIOATION FILED DBG.16, 1912.

1,1 05,32 1 Patented July 28, 1914.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

A. cLfiRET.

RESILIBNT WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.16, 1912.

Patented July 28, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I w ntar. Z 2 I ALBERT GLERET, or PARIS, FRANCE.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 28,1914.

Application filed. December 16, 1912. Serial No. 737,010.

To all whom it mag concern 1 Be it known that I, ALBERT Cmiiin'r,citizen of the French Republic, residing at Paris, Department of theSeine, in France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inResilient WVheels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention has for its ob ject a resilient wheelcharacterized by the employment of one or .more parallel vcablesarranged upon supports fixed to the periphery of an inner rim. Rollersintegral with an outer rim bear upon these cables.

The cable or cables are preferably not resilient but the supports fixedto the inner rim may be resilient to absorb the shocks. As a result ofthis arrangement the shocks received by the outer rim are transmitted tothe cable andabsorbed by the supports. The inner rim is driven by theouter rim by means of springs or resilient bands. This arrangementpresents the advantage of distributing the strains efiiciently over thevarious resilient portions of the whole, thus affording greatflexibility in the suspension.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a longitudinal section of a portion of a wheel embodying theinvention. Fig. 2 is a section on the line A-A in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asection on the line B-B in Fig. 1. Fig. A is a section on the line O'Cin Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 represent details respectively of one of thecable supports and of one of the sliding blocks Fig. 7 illustrates amethod of support, the cablebeing divided into lengths. Fig. 8illustrates a modified form of the invention. Fig. 9 is a section on theline D-D in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a section on the line E-E in Fig. 8.Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively an elevation and a plan illustratingthe manner of attaching the cables.

The resilient wheel represented in Fig, 1 comprises two parallel cablesor hands 1, 1; these cables are rigid and preferably endless and passover rollers 2, 2 arranged upon supports 3 of india rubber or otherappropriate material. The support proper 1s fixed to the inner rim 4 inany appropriate manner; by way of example a method of mounting has beenrepresented in which the support 3, presenting the form of a cy-.lindrical sector is arranged upon a wedge 3 of corresponding form andcomprisesa projection 6 of the same dimensions as the wedge. A metalframe 5 confines both the projection and the wedges and is fixed to therime by means of screws. A notch 7 is provided at the upper partof thesupport 3.

A shaft 9 to which the rollers 2 are fitted.

is held in place and supported by metal disks 8. This shaft 9 rests intwo slots 10 formed in the disks 8, which are fixed to a strip of metal11 presenting exactly the same form as the shock absorberor support 3 ofindia rubber and ending on each side inbeadings 11; a bolt 12 passesthrough the support 3 and the two disks 8 and maintains the whole inplace.

The outer rim 13 carries rods 14:, 15 which receive rollers 16, 17serving to facilitate the slip onthe cables 1, 1. The rods 15 areprolonged toward the center, pass through openings 18 in the inner rim 4and then enter the aperture 19 in a block 20 which serves to maintainthe two rims, 13 and 4 in the same plane and drive the outer rim 13without him pairingjthe flexibility and resiliency'of the system. Theblock 20 is composed of two right-angled triangular prisms assembled bytheir hypothenuses and held together by two screws 21. The aperture19 isformed in a direction perpendicular to the joint face. The upper andlower edges of the aperture 19 may be rounded, as shown in Fig. 1, topermit of the variations of angle of the rod 15 with the blocks 20underthe influence of vibration during running. In each of thetriangular prisms cavities are formed for the reception of rollers 22serving to guide the'rod'15 and'of rollers 22 serving to drive it. Theshafts of these rollers are held in place by bringing the two triangularprisims together.

The block 20 runs between two slideways 23 fixed by their extremities.to the inner rim 4: by means of bolts 24: which'pass through a part 24fixed to the rim. These same bolts serve tosupport the plates (Fig. A).The slideways 23 are complementary inshape to the block 20. They receivespiral springs 25 holding the block resiliently in place, their tensionbeing calculatedin such a manner as to obtain the drive of the rod 15,while nevertheless permitting this rod to move under the influence ofshocks and vibrations.

The outer rim 13receives the shocks, vibrations, and so forth andtransmits them to the cables through the rods 14, 15. When the cables 1,1 are deflected adiminution 0f the circumference of the circlecircumscribed at the apexes of the polygon that they form 7 will resultin a compression of the resilient supports 3 which thus absorb thevibrations.

The cables 1, 1 are constituted by bands of metal or any otherappropriate material such as silk, or the like which is woven or twistedto form cables. Their length should be less than the perimeter that theyare intended to occupy, in such a manner that they can be made perfectlytaut; the tension given to the two cables should be equal.

The cables might be divided into two or more lengths connected at theirextremities to two supports which may be adjacent or not. The ends ofthese lengths might also be fixed to resilient supports, as shown inFig. 7. The cables 1, 1 are fixed to the ends 26, 26 of two bent levers26, 26 each of which rocks about a pivot 27. These levers pass through atransverse slot 28 formed in the inner rim 4 in such a manner that thepivot 27 is in the same plane as and slightly beneath the slot in whichit is supported by small bearings fixed to the rim. Each of thehorizontal arms 26 rests upon one or more spheres or blocks 29 of indiarubber or other resilient material supported by a metal casing 30 endingin flanges 30 which are brought more or less close to the rim by actingupon tightening bolts, whereby the tension of the cables can beregulated. Each deformation of the cable 1 is transmitted by thevertical arm 26 and then by the horizontal arm 26 to the sphere or block29 of india rubber which absorbs the shock.

hen the rods 14 and 15 occupy the middle of the outer rim 13 (Figs. 2, 3and 4) and the rollers 16 and 17 are arranged symmetrically on eitherside,the wheel spokes are omitted and replaced by two frusto conicalplates 31 and 31 whose edges supporting the inner rim 4 are bent to formflanges 32 and 32. One of these plates is detachable-the plate 31 forexample; this detachable plate is arranged on the outer face of thewheel. The other plate 31 may be permanently fixed in position. Thedetachable plate 31 carries parts 33 serving to close the passage forthe introduction of the rods 15 into the admission orifices 18 of theinner rim 4. i

The section of the outer rim 13 may be semicircular and upon each sideof it two india rubber cheeks 34, 34 are fixed by any convenient means.The inner surface of these cheeks is coated with an unctuous prodnot sothat it can slide over the edge 32 of the plates 31, 31, so that thesecheeks form a dust and moisture excluding oint for the system. A ring 35of rubbered canvas or of thin fiat corrugated or folded india rubber canbe fixed on one side to the edge of the upon exerting pressure the rodsenter the passage; the blocks 20 are fixed'after each of the rods 15 hasbeen introduced into its opening 19 and then the plate 31is arranged inplace and fixed by means of bolts; the parts 33 are then made to closethe admission ori fices 18 and finally the cheeks 34 and 34 are fixed tothe outer rim 13.

In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8, the suspension is provided foras before by means of cables 1, which are preferably not resilient. Thesupporting blocks 3 are similar to those described above and arearranged in the same manner around the inner rim 4. The rods 14 supportthe outer rim which may be provided with a tire 39. Said rods 14 are notcontinued below the inner rim and it is consequently unnecessary toprovide openings in this rim. It may be of any ordinary type. As in thepreceding case, the outer rim 13 is prolonged on both sides'of the innerrim by cheeks 34 and 34, which in this case are of metal and ofsufficient width to insure that they shall not extend beyond the innerrim during the largest displacements experienced by the outer rim.

Stays 40 unite the two cheeks 34 and 34 and maintain their spacing. Uponthe lateral faces of the wooden hoop 41 which supports the inner rim 4,balls 42, 42 are arranged at intervals; these ballspermit of thedisplacement of the outer rim 13 relatively t0 the innerrim 4 with aminimum of friction and oppose any lateral displacement of the two rims.

The two rims are connected by means of endless bands 43 of india rubberpassing over rollers 44 and 47 one of which is connected with the innerrim and the other with the outer rim. Each of the rollers M is mountedupon two bell-crank levers 5O pivoted on the pivot of the rollers theirconvexity being directed toward the center of the wheel. Each of therollers 47 is similarly mounted on two parallel levers 46, the

concavity of which is directed outwardly. These rollers are pivoted topivots 45 mounted on the rods 14 of the outer rim which also support therollers on which the cables I slide. Each of the pivots 45 is fixed tothe corresponding rod 14 by means of plates 51 riveted on either side ofthis rod and to which a band of V-shaped steel 43 is pivoted at 52; thisband is fixed to the other extremity of the plates 51 by means of aspring pin 53. Between the parts 14 and 48 the pivot is held; this pivotcarries the cable rollers and the crescents 46. The bands 43 of indiarubber produce the displacement of the two rims one by the other, withthe maximum flexibility. In order to prevent the rollers from cominginto contact with the opposite rim in the case of breakage of the cablesor of an excessively violent shock, a certain number of india rubberbands 54 can be arranged upon the inner rim 4 be tween the supports 3.The rings 35 and 35 of india rubber or of corrugated fabric are providedat each extremity with a beading. These beadings are introduced bypressure into metal angle pieces 55 and 56, 01": which 55 occupies thelateral face of the circle 41 carrying the rim while the other 56 occu-.

pies the lower part of the metal cheek.

In order to assemble the wheel, the cables 1 are stretched on the blocks3 and the crescents with their drive rings are arranged upon the pivotsand the outer rim with one of the cheeks 34 or 34 is introduced. Therods 14 are passed between the two cables, the pins which fix the plates48 being released. The pivots are arranged in place, the bolts areclosed and thereupon the second cheek is fixed; the corrugated rings arefitted and the stays are bolted. Each of the cables 1 can be replaced bya cable 1 (Figs. 11 and 12) of circular section which passes around thewheel a number of times, the

rollers being channeled in this case.

Each length of the cable 1 is engaged in small rollers 57, 58 mountedupon a cross piece 59 which is capable of inclination. The two crosspieces 59 are connected by two cables 60 resting upon the rollers of ablock 3. The extremities of the cable, after passing over the rollers 57and 58 then pass through the inner rim 4 on which they are fixed to atensioning system arranged externally.

The invention is not limited to the constructional forms represented inthe draw ings. The inner rim in particular might be modified or evendispensed with if the supports were held by other appropriate means. Theform of wheel described above might also be adapted to shock absorbers,pulleys and so forth.

Claims:

1. A resilient wheel comprising an outer rim, an inner rim, resilientsupports carried I by one of said rims, inelastic means encir- 55 clingsaid supports to transmit pressure to all of said supportssimultaneously, and means to support the other rim on said means wherebyroad shocks are transmitted through the intermediary of said means tosaid supports.

2. A resilient wheel comprising an outer rim, an inner rim, resilientsupports carried by said inner rim, an encircling inelastic bandsurrounding said supports, and inelastic means to support the outer rimon said band.

3. A resilient wheel comprising an outer rim, an inner rim, resilientsupports carried by one of said rims, inelastic means to trans- 7o mitpressure to all of said supports simultaneously, and means to supportthe other rim on said means whereby road shocks are transmitted throughthe intermediary of said means to said supports.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT CLERET.

Witnesses HANsoN C. Coxn,

EMILE KLoTz. c

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, I

Washington, D. G.

